Easy eh?

AT FIRST GLANCE Easy A is one of those All-American high school films which make me go "I will watch this at some sleepover.  Two years from now.  On a pirated DVD from Hong Kong."  The trailer made me yawn and irritable for more reasons than one - I was fixated upon the line where Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) says "Tom Cruise?" with a scrunched-up face to Amanda Byne's pious remark about some higher power judging indecencies.  I didn't get it, and I still don't.  When I watched the film I winced when it came to that line. Somebody please explain?


However the premise of the film, bar that single irritating line, is adequately original.  A modern take on Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Woman", Easy A scores high in its frank humour and refreshing focus on something greater than the usual fare of tension between girl loser, popular hotties and desirable male figure named Corey X.  Sadly, the fact that such an archaic concept of "hating on the whore" still makes perfect reasonable sense today is a disappointing reflection on feminist standings and gains.  What's more interesting is the entrepreneurial aspect of Olive's decisions to get in the red.  It's more or less a tale of "girl sells illusion of sex for money".   Whilst there is no actual hanky-panky going on, there's some kind of socio-tabloidesque prostitution happening here which I don't have a certifiable opinion on, but it's certainly interesting.  "Let's not, but say that we did" - marketing for teenage abstinence?  Or perhaps pathological lying?

This is how pretend-sex blossoms between a heterosexual girl and a homosexual boy.  

The best scene I must say, comes early on in the film when Olive turns down a camping trip with 'Big Tits' best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) to spend the weekend at home, belting out the lyrics to "Pocket Full Of Sunshine", courtesy of Granny's birthday sing-along card.  Happily the incessantly groovy song makes a recurring appearance as Olive's ringtone throughout the film, a massive perk to be sure.





Another highlight is the genius casting of Olive's parents in the form of Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. Like the refrigerated-yet-still-fresh leftovers of the summer of '69, two such amazingly liberal and self-liberated parental figures could not be more welcome to teenaged viewers.  Amazing people.  And despite the  clichéd appearance of the token black adopted kid (Bryce Clyde Jenkins), it's feasible in a family as chill as this one.  Moreover it was probably inevitable that he got ticked off the list of 'what white people like'.

Relaxing is good for many reasons.  White people like to relax in the presence of a black person, as indicated.

The portrayal of religious zealots in this film was another commendable take. Amanda Byne's overly-wholesome Marianne functions as little more than the conservative plot device to stir up opposition, whilst her boyfriend/family/devotees/cult members are largely exposed as hypocritical sex-deprived perverts.  Go team!

Your teeth are too white.

Some faux-Christian noob. Twilight can only get you so far bro. The last shot of him in the film is of him scratching his balls.

The only thing that niggled was the amazing persistence of Hollywood films in perpetuating the MSSE (Miserable Secondary Schooling Experience).  Perhaps this may ring true in most American high schools.  But really, enough is enough.  I want to watch a film where a teenage noob-geek studies real hard for their SATs and triumphs by getting into Harvard.  Like Pandora from Skins, but with noticeably more effort.  


At the end of the day all is good as every Hollywood teen film should be.  Olive bows out gracefully with a song and dance, gets the guys she's meant to end up with and they ride off into the sunset on a lawnmower.

Moral of the story is - always trust Woodchuck Todd.

Thus painful as it is for me to end a review in this way, the cast and originality of the film made it difficult to resist cracking this pun - a big fat A for Easy A.

In the Falkland Islands a thumbs up can get you arrested, deported and fined 500 Falkland dollars.  Sticking out one's thumb heaven-ward is deeply offensive to the local culture.  

[disco.read]

ilk

...is a lovely word indeed. like milk & silk

Oh milk, you are so good for us.

Starting off with a list, because it's apparently a woman's thing and David Ogilvy liked to make a mean list, so why shouldn't we:

1. Went to Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellan last Sunday avec Count Lucifer, intriguing stuff which will be posted up in greater detail later

2. If you want to watch a good hearty love story with French quirks and twists, I say to you:

Watch this film before you die! "Jeux d'enfants" or "Love me if you dare" which is its English title - starring none other than the gorgeous Marion Cotillard and scrumptious Guillaume Canet - has beauty and ugliness, comedy and tragedy, love and hate and other rather epic binary oppositions.

3. Some good blogs/websites for:
a. Breakfast (my favourite meal of the day, I cannot fathom it when people say they haven't had breakfast, I have never once in my life gone without eating something first thing when I wake up)
http://simplybreakfast.blogspot.com/

b. Football nuts and perving on fit men (although the World Cup Fever has died down, being hot never will go out of vogue), note especially the Spanish national team and their goalie Iker Casillas
http://www.kickette.com/

c. indie geek chic tees! shirts with canonical literature printed on them can only be made of win:
http://www.outofprintclothing.com/ShopWomens_a/179.html

d. the good-old Guardian, where the Anglophilic like me get their updates on British news, music and various entertainment:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle

Stay tuned! (ah, but what for?)

PS. freak accident of the day: kicked a ball (a rather good neat kick I must say) into the air which in a massive coincidence happened to hit a little boy riding his bike bang on the head. Said little boy swerved and wobbled a bit before crashing and subsequently crying. His father went to comfort him. Am I a bad person for trying to stifle a laugh at the impossible freakishness of the situation? (don't bother answering, I don't really mind being bad, and the kid was wearing a helmet so all was good)

[discoread]

Who's Reviews: An Education

An Education was a delightful film, thanks largely to Carey Mulligan. Plus, watching it in Dendy Quays meant Count Lucifer and I enjoyed a great view of the Opera House before and after the film and a fun trip to and from Circular Quay where we were accosted by, not one, but two strange men. That was an entirely appropriate entree to the central concept of this film, I guess.

Set in 1961, on the cusp of social change to attitudes about sex, this is a morally troubling film. On one level, the surface politeness of David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charming 30-plus man who makes a living doing ethically dubious things, made me almost forgive is pursuit of Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a 16/17 year old precocious schoolgirl who dreams of jazz music, Paris and the high life. But on the other hand, CL and I couldn't help but think "eugh" when you think about the basis of the story: older man seduces younger girl with charm and trips to Paris. This has 'pedophile' written all over it.

At the beginning of the film, we are immediately aware that Jenny is different to her friends. While they are insufferably obnoxious and inappropriate, she peppers her sentences with French and is altogether more self-assured and intelligent. But this proves dangerous because she is bored. Bored with studying Latin, bored with her pushy parents and bored with Graham (Matthew Beard), an adorable but clumsy schoolboy who is pursuing her. Then in comes David, a suave and charming gentleman, cough, cough, with glamorous friends Danny (Dominic Cooper from Mamma Mia) and Helen (Rosamund Pike, who is hilarious), a lifestyle of leisure and a strange attraction to her. Although there is something fishy about David and his friends, Jenny turns a blind eye to some confronting facts about them (essentially, some of their income comes from thieving).

The rest of the movie plays out with complications galore. Jenny believes her "life education" should come before her school education. She forfeits her chances of getting into Oxford when she is expelled for being with David. To the shock of her peers and encouraged by her parents (who fail to protect Jenny from David's steely grasp), she goes on not one, but two trips with David. Once to Oxford and once to Paris. Lets just say this was very cringe-worthy not because of sexual content, but because the most morally confronting issues were raised in these scenes.

Do we accept their relationship because it's consensual or is it just wrong for an older man to have a relationship with someone who is essentially a child in many respects?

Jane ignores the advice of her teacher and mentor, Miss Stubs (Olivia Williams, or Jane Fairfax in the Kate Beckinsale version of Emma). But who can blame her? Going to jazz clubs and conversations about pre-Raphaelite paintings are just so much more interesting than King Lear.

But, without giving the ending away, Jenny must eventually pay for her actions, ignorance and impatience. Cue rude awakenings, heart-breaking confrontations and attempts to rectify what was wronged.

Carey Mulligan is the 'bright star' of this film (haha CL). Even though she is 24, she manages very convincingly as a 17 year old girl. She is sufficiently wide-eyed and simultaneously stubborn to be believable as a strong-willed teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood. Emma Thompson has a nice cameo as the delightfully frumpy and anti-semitic headmistress who manages to slap some sense into Jenny in the end.

What wasn't very convincing was David and Jenny's relationship. Sure he was a smooth operator, but there was no believable chemistry. Maybe because he was a total cad, I dunno.

I spent the whole of today thinking about the end of the film. I'm not quite sure how to interpret it. Though there is technically a 'happy ending', one wonders whether or not Jenny truly values her education (with David, that is) or if she wishes to forget that chapter of her life altogether. I guess the overarching moral I gathered is that you must be educated in order to receive an education.

Rotten Tomatoes has 94% positive feedback on this film so I guess most people love it. I'd give it an 8/10. A morally stirring story where the strangest part was the fact that it was based on the life of a real woman... gross...

~ Hurley Who?

Movie Review: Sunshine Cleaning

Sunshine Cleaning is a nice movie. Actually, it's not nice so much as it is short and sweet, like a tasty bite-sized piece of well-made film. I say that because it's rather short, and ends appropriately albeit a bit abruptly.

I had trouble compiling my feelings about this movie into one nice (there goes that word again...) and neat review so I read a few on the net. This one kind of sums up what I feel: http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2564976.htm

Anyhoodle, here goes. I watched this film as a "I actually wanted to watch it but never thought I would" sort of film. But I'm glad I did because I'd rather be funding indie films from America rather than terrible big-budget films from America (ie. Year One, The Land Of The Lost, The Hangover etc).

The story is about Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) and her sister Norah (Emily Blunt) who start a cleaning agency, Sunshine Cleaning, where they clean up dead people's homes after their bodies have been removed. While none of the gory scenes were all that gory, it was the emotional impact of the scene that made it a bit more scary - the fact that the two sisters were encroaching upon space where people had died, or committed suicide, largely resonated within me, and it was a sad and a bit confronting sometimes.

That guy above with the moustache, Walter, I felt was a bit marginalised throughout the film because he was a great guy who had character potential that wasn't really explored. He plays the cleaning supplies shop owner who you think may end up together with Rose but it only turns into a tender friendship.

Rose's son Oscar is so adorable as the child prodigy who is kicked out of school because he is too smart...? It's a bit of a paradox.

Within the main framework of the plot comes a 'subplot' where Norah, who is psychologically scarred from seeing her mother's body after she committed suicide, tries to seek a female figure in her life to replace her mother. In comes Lynn (above with Norah) who is the daughter of a woman who has committed suicide and Sunshine Cleaning has stepped in to clean her house. They form a misguided 'relationship' of sorts. Norah is trying to gain closure, Lynn thinks Norah is interested in her. The result of this is a bit messy and once it finishes, it is never again explored in the film which I felt left a few gaps in the storyline.

All in all, Sunshine Cleaning was a very good but subtle movie. It was a semi-tragic but uplifting film about 'real life' in unreal circumstances. The acting was excellent - the characters made you laugh, cringe, gasp in shock and feel depressed. I think it deserves a 7.5-8 out of 10. Other reviewers (ie. SMH) gave it higher ratings, which makes me think that maybe because I'm not as seasoned as other reviewers, and maybe more "blockbuster-ised", I didn't truly appreciate the subtlety of the film.

~ Hurley Who?

Silver Screen Insults

I came across this article recently - The Best Insults from the Silver Screen.

While you can't capture every single insulting moment in the history of film, I reckon these ones are a good pick of the bunch:

“I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal, food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.” - John Cleese as a French soldier in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (very Mrs K)

Chris Dewey: You're reading a comic book.
House: And you're calling attention to your bosom by wearing a low-cut top. Oh, I'm sorry; I thought we were having a "State the Obvious" contest. I'm competitive by nature. - Hugh Laurie’s scathing and contemptuous Dr. Gregory House in the Histories episode of House M.D.

“A chat with you and somehow death loses its sting.” - The skeezy Rowan Atkinson in '80s classic, The Black Adder

“To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I've known sheep who could outwit you. I've worn dresses with higher IQs…” - Jamie Lee Curtis, in A Fish Called Wanda

“When I first saw you, I thought you were handsome. Then, of course, you spoke." - Helen Hunt as blunt Carol Connelly in As Good As It Gets

“The details of your incompetence do not interest me.“ - Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada


And finally, perhaps the most famous:

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn." - Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind

For all you Gone With the Wind fans, here is the clip:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ7z6hpO57c


Hope we're all having great holidays,

~ Hurley Who?